27 APR 2024 · “I will ask questions. I’m not backing off. Let me make this clear to this government,” says Abhisar Sharma, famous Journalist and television anchor, in this long interview with broadcaster Pervaiz Alam on Cine Ink’s new podcast series London Vārta: Freedom of Speech.  Abhisar Sharma is an award-winning journalist and has worked with BBC Hindi, NDTV, Zee TV, Aajtak and ABP as a reporter, presenter and anchor of news and current affairs programmes in London and Delhi. The series London Vārta: Freedom of Speech is available both in video and audio formats on YouTube, Apple, Spotify and other major podcast platforms.  Abhisar Sharma was summoned twice by the Delhi Police for questioning in connection with a case filed under anti-terror law UAPA of India, following charges that he was involved with a news portal which was accused of spreading pro-China propaganda. He has also been questioned by India’s Enforcement Directorate as well in another case.  London Vārta: Freedom of Speech will be profiling some of India’s leading television anchors and journalists who have launched their own YouTube channels, attracting millions of viewers to get their alternate news and current affairs. In conversation with broadcaster Pervaiz Alam, the guests share their journey from mainstream media or ‘Legacy Media’ to Social Media as the space for independent journalists shrinks day by day in India. 

24 APR 2024 · In this first episode of “London Vārta: Freedom of Speech”,  Utkarsh Amitabh, CEO of Network Capital, is in conversation with broadcaster Pervaiz Alam. Amitabh has recently authored a book: Passion Economy And The Side Hustle, published by Penguin.  He is also the Chief Marketing Officer of http://5ire.org/, a blockchain unicorn valued at $1.5 Billion.  Utkarsh Amitabh is a writer at Harvard Business Review, Chevening Fellow at University of Oxford and a World Economic Forum Global Shaper who represented the community at the Annual Meeting in Davos. An engineer by training, Utkarsh read philosophy at Pembroke College, University of Oxford and earned his MBA from INSEAD Business School (France) where he was recognised as the Andy Burgess Scholar for Social Entrepreneurship.  Utkarsh worked at Microsoft for 7 years across US, Europe and India, leading business development for big bet projects. He is a TED speaker, Raisina Fellow, and the recipient of the INK Fellowship.  He is also a trained actor and played “Major Metcalf” in one of the world's longest running plays. He loves to travel and has been to more than 80 countries. London Vārta: Freedom of Speech  Meet some of the most prominent journalists and broadcasters from India, discussing their journey from ‘Legacy Media’ to Social Media via Youtube in a series of podcasts, London Vārta: Freedom of Speech, produced by Cine Ink, a hub of podcasts based in London.   Background: A report by the Reuters news agency in April, 2024, headlined the phenomenon “Critics of India's Modi migrate online as mainstream media stays deferential.” With more than 800 million people online, India is the country with the largest YouTube audience, 462 million, in the world. With more than 400 million WhatsApp users, the country is seeing a record number of exchange of good, bad and ugly internet links. A report “The 2024 Indian Elections: The Strategic Use of Journalism, Social Media, and Internet Governance in a Modi-centric Election” by Ralph Schroeder, Neeraj Shetye and Maknoon Wani, published in April 2024, for the Oxford Internet Institute, the University of Oxford, says: The Worrying State of Indian Journalism - India’s ranking in the  World Press Freedom Index has consistently deteriorated over the past few years, touching a record low of 161 out of 180 countries in 2023, falling 11 positions compared to 2022. One of the main issues leading to the downgrade is the concentrated ownership of Indian media  where businesses such as Reliance Industries, which is close to the Prime Minister, has been able to buy more than 70 media outlets in the country. This has significantly affected Indian journalism: As Antara Dev Sen observes, “An independent journalist is the bedrock of responsible media as opposed to embedded journalists, enlisted by dominant political, ideological or business interests”.  The report adds: Disinformation on social media played an important, though not decisive, role in the previous two elections. 2014 is sometimes dubbed the ‘Twitter election’ and 2019 the ‘WhatsApp’ election. 2024, with YouTube among the main outlets that Indians use for news may come to be known as the ‘YouTube election’.

2 SEP 2023 · The year 2023 has seen been witnessing one of the the most heated debates on the idea of having a Uniform Civil Code (UCC) in India. The framers of the Indian constitution endeavoured to have a common set of laws governing personal matters such as marriage, divorce, inheritance, and adoption for all citizens, irrespective of their religious affiliations. Both Muslims and Christians have expressed their reservations about the idea which is yet to be presented in a legal format. Various tribes and other minority groups in India are also opposed to the introduction of a UCC. Why? Prof. Tahir Mahmood, India’s renowned jurist specialising in Islamic Law, Hindu Law, Religion and Law and Law Relating to Minorities, and Former Member, Law Commission of India, is in conversation with Pervaiz Alam. He says Indian Muslims have been let down by their scholars as most Muslim countries in the world, including Pakistan, have codified the Islamic family law. “According to Islamic law, triple divorce is illegal. All Muslim countries have abolished it.” But in India Muslim scholars are still divided over it. Prof. Mahmood has authored more than 20 books on law and has been Dean, Faculty of Law, University of Delhi, Chairman, National Commission for Minorities and Member, National Human Rights Commission. The Supreme Court of India has cited his scholarly work on Islamic laws in some of its judgments.